Craigslist Photos Become Accidental Art in Filmmaker’s Tumblr

We’ve all been there: On hold, trying to resolve a technical issue with a customer service agent halfway around the world. Most of us need something to occupy our time while sitting through the drudgery – we doodle on a notepad or surf YouTube for viral videos. For Kirsten Lepore it was the free section on Craigslist.

Lepore, a freelance animator and filmmaker based out of Los Angeles, was on the phone with Apple to fix a new souped-up iMac that didn’t work. She was cruising the free section because all her money was wrapped up in the computer and she still needed furniture. Scrolling through the offered items she sometimes stumbled on an a humorously ambiguous photo. (Is it the dirt or the dog that they’re trying to give away?)

“Some of those images are pretty … let’s just say they weren’t easily discernable,” says Lepore.

Already a proficient blogger, Lepore says she quickly realized the photos were an online home run. Within days she had created a new Tumblr to feature the work, which she calls Craigslist high art.

The blog isn’t just dedicated to making fun of bad photography, however. Lepore says she’s also looking for photos she thinks are beautiful, or at least unexpected. She was drawn to a shot of yellow walkie-talkies, for example, because of the lighting and the symmetry. Because of this, the site’s name oscillates between irony and sincerity.

At this point, she says the blog has sort of become an anthropological record of people’s style choices.

Craigslist high art is only a couple of weeks old, but it’s a fun time-waster and we’re already hooked. Many of the photos raise the same question: WTF? Like the couch on a curb shot at night (Why not take the picture during the day?), the couch-door combo (which one is for sale?) and the wide-angle shot of a tree and a toilet.

“Somehow they thought it was a good idea to go across the street and take that picture,” Lepore says.

Lepore tries not to spend too much time on the site, but as an animator who is most well know for her stop-motion films, she says it’s a nice aside. When she’s spending up to 12 hours a day making tiny little adjustments in order to maybe get five seconds of usable film, perusing Craigslist like an art gallery is a nice break.

“I like paying attention to how they lay out the merchandise and it’s interesting to think about what looks most desirable to them,” she says.